"A so-called Gourmet Hunter travels the world in search of rare ingredients and cuisines, constantly pursuing and creating ever higher forms of human delicacies. Naturally, Gourmet Hunters themselves are the most top-tier chefs."
Leorio once again carefully explained the definition of Gourmet Hunters.
After all, Leorio's goal was to become the strongest and most well-connected Gourmet Hunter in history. There was no way he wouldn't thoroughly understand the profession.
He had secretly gathered information, painstakingly researching and collecting materials. Without a Hunter License, many resources were inaccessible, so obtaining this knowledge had taken considerable effort.
Aside from Menchi and Buhara, there weren't many Gourmet Hunters mentioned in the original work. After the exam, he would definitely need to seek their guidance.
Leorio understood one thing very clearly: examiners in the Hunter world were quite willing to mentor promising candidates. That meant he needed to stand out in the second test—give Menchi a reason to take notice of him and offer guidance.
"What Leorio said is correct. Gourmet Hunters are also top-tier chefs," Kurapika added, as he was already familiar with the basics of the profession.
"Then the test topic is…"
Hanzo quickly caught on after hearing Leorio's explanation. "So the second test must be related to food."
"That's right," Menchi said decisively. "The second test is cooking."
"Cooking?"
The elite candidates who had struggled so hard to pass the first test were stunned.
Cooking?
The Hunter Exam tests cooking?
Something about this felt completely off.
"Tch—after all the effort it took to get here, now we're supposed to become chefs for no reason?"
The man in purple clothing with braided hair—Todo—exploded with anger, bristling like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.
From Leorio's perspective, this guy probably couldn't cook and was panicking. After pouring so much effort into the exam, getting eliminated not because of ability—but because he couldn't cook—would feel incredibly unjust.
Annoying.
"If you're dissatisfied, you can leave right now," Menchi said, raising a finger and wagging it impatiently.
Todo, who had been fired up just moments ago, was immediately shut down by that single sentence. He fell silent for the moment—but as a background character with plenty of screen time, he was definitely going to stir things up again.
"If anyone else is dissatisfied, you're free to leave immediately," Menchi added, raising an eyebrow with visible irritation.
To her, questioning a cooking challenge right in front of her was completely unacceptable. For someone as fanatical about food as Menchi, it was almost unforgivable.
If they weren't Hunter applicants, she might've already drawn her twin knives and turned them into ingredients.
Once she said that, the commotion died down significantly. The candidates fell silent almost instinctively—after all, no one wanted to be eliminated for such a ridiculous reason.
"Looks like no one dares complain anymore," Menchi said after scanning the crowd.
She didn't care why they'd stopped talking. As long as they were quiet, that was enough.
"May I ask what dish we'll be making?" Leorio quickly asked, hoping to reduce Todo's chances of causing trouble again.
Getting beaten up would be ugly—especially if it was by a petite woman.
"What kind of dish?" Hanzo echoed, equally curious.
"First, all candidates will prepare a dish that I designate," Buhara said cheerfully.
At last, he would get to eat something. That alone made him happy.
"Only those who pass Buhara's evaluation will be qualified to make the dish I assign. In other words, if both of us find your cooking delicious, you will pass the second test."
The moment Menchi started talking about food, her energy returned instantly. She smiled brightly, clearly enjoying herself.
Unfortunately, fate had other plans.
When it rains, it pours. Mothers remarry. And Todo insists on self-destruction—something no one can stop.
Leorio shrugged. If someone was determined to get beaten up, there was no point stopping them again. This wasn't some melodrama where you save the same idiot three times in a row.
"There's no way that's fair!" Todo shouted, flailing his arms. "Whether something tastes good or not is completely subjective!"
This time, Todo's argument actually made sense—and it quickly drew agreement from the other candidates.
"Exactly! Even if we think it tastes good, what if it doesn't suit the examiners' tastes? Wouldn't we still fail?"
A tall man wearing a blue knit cap spoke up, clearly agitated as well. He also looked like someone with poor cooking skills.
"Does the Hunter world believe in that 'a gentleman stays out of the kitchen' nonsense too?" Leorio thought to himself.
Compared to Crime Hunters, Ruins Hunters, Marine Hunters, Bounty Hunters, and the like, Gourmet Hunters really did sound… underwhelming.
"Yeah…"
"This is ridiculous…"
"You've got to be kidding…"
"What are we supposed to do?"
"There has to be another way, right?"
The candidates' emotions were stirred up. The crowd grew louder and more agitated, demanding an explanation from the examiners.
Leorio was fired up as well and was about to step forward, but Leorio grabbed him by the arm.
"Let's wait and see," Leorio said quietly. "This is the Hunter Exam. There has to be a solution."
"Alright," Leorio replied simply.
He trusted Leorio completely. If Leorio said to wait, then something would definitely change soon.
Sure enough, not long after, Menchi lazily stood up and lightly clapped her hands to quiet the crowd.
"Alright… listen up. I already said this earlier. Anyone who doesn't want to accept this test can go home and cook for themselves. No problem at all. Okay—bye."
She waved casually, looking completely at ease.
"A hot body and high emotional intelligence really have nothing to do with each other," Leorio thought, rubbing his forehead.
Menchi looked refined and charming, but the things she said were unbelievably tone-deaf.
Sure enough, even Leorio couldn't take it anymore.
He was deeply committed to getting a Hunter License—and after everything he'd been through, being told to "just go home" was like kicking a hornet's nest.
"What kind of nonsense is that?! We worked this hard to get here—how could we possibly go back now?!"
Leorio swung his arm forcefully to bolster his presence. Though furious, he still remembered Leorio's words and avoided saying anything too extreme.
"Yeah!"
"No way!"
"We can't just leave!"
"We've come this far!"
"There's no way we're going back!"
Most of the candidates were emotionally charged. After enduring countless hardships to get here, being dismissed with a casual "goodbye" was unacceptable.
Of course, some of the clearer-headed ones immediately realized who was responsible for all this—and went straight for the culprit, hoping the examiners might reconsider.
"This is all your fault! If you hadn't run your mouth so much, things wouldn't have gotten this complicated, damn it!"
A fierce-looking man rushed forward, grabbed Todo by the collar, and began shoving him violently.
"Yeah! If anyone keeps whining, they should just get lost!" Hanzo added angrily. "This mess is all because of him!"